This invention relates to a method for manufacturing shaped elastic ear portion laminates from continuous webs of elastic and nonelastic material. The shaped elastic ear portion laminates are particularly suited for use in disposable absorbent articles such as diapers and adult incontinence articles.
Disposable absorbent articles that can be fitted to a wearer traditionally use fastening systems that have functional closure components such as hook and loop fasteners or pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes. These closure components are traditionally providing on or as small tabs placed at a side edge of the absorbent article. A complementary piece, that the closure element engages with, is generally also provided. This complementary element is often on a main body portion of the disposable garment. The tabs are often placed on so called ear portions, which are cut from an edge portion of the disposable absorbent article. This ear portion is often supplied with an elastic, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,857,067; 5,156,973 and 4,381,781. This cutting out of the ear portion from a larger absorbent article chassis involves the creation of large amounts of trim which is costly and requires disposal.
This ear portion has also been provided as a separate element attached to a main chassis of the absorbent article, which ear portion is provided with all the functional elements required, e.g., generally elastic, closure elements and means to attach to the chassis. This separately applied ear portion eliminates waste creation on the absorbent article manufacturing line and allows modifications to an ear portion construction without the need for modifying the more complicated absorbent article line. An example of such an ear construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,584 (Eaton et al.). There however is still the need with these ear portion laminates to reduce the creation of scrap and provide a laminate that can be easily used on an absorbent article manufacturing line at high-speed assembly rates.
The invention is directed at a process for forming profiled elastic laminates suitable for forming profiled elastic ear portions from continuous length rolls.
Initially there is provided a continuous length of at least one elastic web material having a first width and a continuous length of a first extensible nonelastic web having a second width. The at least one elastic web material and the first extensible nonelastic web are laminated to form a first dimensionally stable laminate of an indefinite length in the machine direction. This first laminate is then continuously cut into at least two adjacent continuous lengths of at least two nested profiled laminates, which nested profiled laminates each have at least one profiled edge. The adjacent profiled edges of adjacent profiled laminates, cut from the first laminate, are generally substantial negatives of each other so that no trim needs to be removed between the adjacent profiled laminates when they are separated. These profiled laminates are also substantially continuous or of an indefinite length. The at least two adjacent profiled laminates are then separated from each other. A continuous length of at least one second nonelastic web having a third width is then provided. This at least one second nonelastic web is then laminated to at least one of the profiled laminates to form at least one second dimensionally stable continuous laminate. This second dimensionally stable continuous laminate can then be further provided with fastener elements and cut into individual profiled elastic ear portions for use on a disposable garment. The elastic region of the laminate can optionally be activated prior to, during or after the individual elastic ear portions are cut from the at least one second dimensionally stable web, or a web cut from the second dimensionally stable web.